Don’t Forget to Wave at Saturn

Earth will be in the picture when the Cassini deep-space probe images the whole Saturn system as it is backlit by the sun.

The clock is counting down for our once-in-a-lifetime chance to wave when the Cassini deep-space probe takes images of Saturn. When it does, we will be in the picture.

I received an email from Arthur Smith, a chum of mine in England and one of the world's foremost experts on cosmic rays. He's the person I go to if I have any questions on them, but I'm not sure why I do this, because I never understand any of his answers. He does try to simplify things for me, but his idea of simple is my idea of Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory explaining superstring theory.

Smith emailed me to remind me that today (July 19, 2013) the Cassini probe is poised to image the whole Saturn system as it is backlit by the sun. As you can see in the simulated image below, Earth will be in the picture.

NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are suggesting that we all go outside and wave at Cassini's cameras at the appropriate time. I hope they get my good side.

Of course, this is all in fun. The entire Earth will be no bigger than a pixel or two at that range (898 million miles or 1.44 billion kilometers, give or take a smoot or two). It's the thought that counts. Nevertheless, I know that I will be out there waving at exactly 4:27 p.m. Central Time. That time takes into consideration the fact that light from the Earth will take approximately 80 minutes to reach the cameras on the spacecraft.

I learned about this wonderful story from Google News this morning - the first story seemed to come from Space.Com via FoxNews (of all unlikely sources to break a technology story) at 9:15 am on July 19th.

This is really a wonderful info!! You have made me remember the history of how Carl Sagan managed to convince the NASA to reverse the Voyager and take a picture to the Earth... when the probe was in Saturn too!!

In first place, he encouraged to make this with these words:

"It had been well understood by the scientists and philosophers of classical antiquity that the Earth was a mere point in a vast, encompassing cosmos—but no one had ever seen it as such. Here was our first chance, and perhaps also our last for decades to come."

If we consider that the original picture was taken by the Voyager in 1990, more than two decades have actually passed away!! Now, we have the opportunity of thinking again about our actual place in the Universe:

"I"t has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. It underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the only home we've ever known.